Help for mortgage debtors, spending control and simpler paperwork

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. If your main home is sold in a mortgage foreclosure and the money is not enough to cover the debt, the share of your income that cannot be seized rises by 50% of the minimum wage, plus another 30% for each family member without their own income.
2. In auctions of homes for missed mortgage payments, the lender cannot take the property for less than 60% of its appraised value. The deposit to bid at auction also drops from 30% to 20%, so more bidders can take part.
3. A spending rule is created: the spending of the central government and some local entities cannot grow faster than the Spanish economy. If the rule is broken, corrective measures must be adopted immediately.
4. Local governments can take out long-term loans to pay their debts to companies and self-employed workers, capped at 25% of their share of state taxes and repaid within a maximum of three years.
5. No income taxincome tax The personal income tax (IRPF in Spain): what people pay on what they earn from work, business or savings. is due on gains from selling shares in newly created or recent companies, with limits of 25,000 euros invested per year and 75,000 euros per company, and the investment must be held between three and ten years.
6. The law defines what building rehabilitation means (conservation, improvement and urban regeneration) and makes periodic technical inspections mandatory for buildings over 50 years old in municipalities with over 25,000 residents.
7. In the most important urban planning procedures (construction, earthworks, first occupancy), if the administration does not answer in time, the request is deemed denied, not approved.
8. In more than a hundred procedures of the state administration the opposite applies: if they do not answer in time, the request is deemed approved.

Who it affects

• Families losing their main home over missed mortgage payments: Their income is better protected from seizure and they get a fair minimum price at auction.
• Companies and self-employed workers with unpaid bills from local governments: They can get paid sooner thanks to the credit line for local entities.
• Small investors in startups: They pay no income tax on gains if they meet the requirements.
• Owners of old buildings in large municipalities: They must undergo the mandatory technical building inspection.
• Citizens and companies filing administrative procedures: In many procedures, the administration's silence now counts as approval.

Words worth knowing

Ejecución hipotecaria (mortgage foreclosure)

Court process in which the home of someone who does not pay the mortgage is auctioned off.

Salario mínimo interprofesional (SMI, minimum wage)

The lowest wage that can legally be paid in Spain.

Silencio administrativo (administrative silence)

What happens when the administration does not answer in time: the request is deemed approved or denied depending on the case.

Registro de la Propiedad (Property Registry)

Official registry recording who owns each property and any charges on it.

Edificio fuera de ordenación (building out of planning)

A building that does not meet current zoning rules, but whose demolition can no longer be required.

income tax

The personal income tax (IRPF in Spain): what people pay on what they earn from work, business or savings.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries